KR20130099884A - Mold core package for forming a powder slush molding tool - Google Patents

Abstract

A powder slush forming tool having heating and cooling features as part of a tool, wherein the tool is produced using a mold formed by additive manufacturing techniques, which tool is used to manufacture flexible polymer soft skin for use inside a vehicle. To be used additionally.

Description

MOLD CORE PACKAGE FOR FORMING A POWDER SLUSH MOLDING TOOL

This application is incorporated by reference in the following application, that is, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, and US Patent Application No. _ filed on February 29, 2012, entitled "Mold Core for Forming Tool Forming"; Attorney Control No. 83203377), US Patent Application No. _ (Lawyer Control No. 83203379), filed Feb. 29, 2012, entitled "Forming Assembly with Heating and Cooling Systems"; US patent application Ser. No. 83203382, filed Feb. 29, 2012, "Exchangeable Mold Insert," a molding tool having a conformal part and a method of manufacturing the same. U.S. Patent Application No .- (Lawyer Control No. 83225806) and U.S. Patent Application No.-filed Feb. 29, 2012 entitled "Additional Manufacturing Techniques for Producing Molds for Die Components" (Lawyer control number 83225814).

The present invention relates to a tool used to make a flexible polymeric soft skin for use in a vehicle interior, the powder slush forming tool or the rotary forming tool having heating and cooling features cast as part of the tool. It is about.

Powder slush molding tools or rotational molding tools are used to create soft skins for use in vehicle parts such as instrument panels, internal door panels, dashboards, armrests and other vehicle parts that require a smooth surface feel. Soft skins are generally produced using powder slush molding tools in electro-formed nickel processes or nickel vapor deposition processes. These processes require powder slush forming tools with external cooling and heating features that are costly and time consuming to form into powder slush forming tools. The present invention relates to a powder slush forming tool for use in the manufacture of soft skins, wherein the mold for producing the powder slush forming tool is heated such that the heating and cooling features are converted to a cast powder slush forming tool used for producing soft skin. And a cooling feature is formed using a three-dimensional printing process that can be formed into a mold core package.

According to one aspect of the invention, a method for producing a polymer shell for a vehicle interior includes (a) depositing a thin layer of particles, and (b) selectively applying a binder to the thin layer of particles to define a cross section of the mold core package. Steps. Steps (a) and (b) are repeated to create a finished mold core package with a mold cavity disposed therein. The melt is injected into the mold cavity or otherwise applied to form a cast powder slush forming tool. The casting molding tool is then coated with a polymeric material during the slush forming process to form a polymeric sheath.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for producing a mold core package for forming a powder slush forming tool includes (a) depositing a thin layer of particles, and (b) a binder in the thin layer to define a cross section of the mold core package. Selectively applying a. Steps (a) and (b) are repeated to create a finished mold core package with a mold cavity disposed therein. A molten nickel-iron alloy having a coefficient of thermal expansion of less than 5.0 × 10 ⁻⁶ in / in / ° F. is injected into the mold core package or otherwise applied to form a cast powder slush forming tool.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a mold core package for forming a powder slush forming tool comprises a cope or an upper mold box having a first forming surface defined by a plurality of laminated particle layers. The mold core package further includes a drag having a second forming surface defined by the plurality of laminated particle layers. The casting cavity is defined by the first and second forming surfaces of the cope and drag, respectively, and the casting cavity has a negative configuration of the thermal control features cast into the powder slush forming tool used in the slush forming process.

These and other aspects, objects, and features of the invention will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art through a review of the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.

1 is a top perspective view of a work box or hard containment box before the mold core package is formed by a three-dimensional (3D) printing apparatus.
FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the work box of FIG. 1 while the fine particle layer is diffused into the work box. FIG.
3 is a top perspective view of the work box of FIG. 1 while the binder is added to the printing area by the 3D printing apparatus.
4 is a top perspective view of the work box of FIG. 1 after several fine particle layers have been printed by the 3D printing apparatus.
5 is a top perspective view of the work box of FIG. 1 with a new layer of fine particles spread over the printing surface of the work box.
6 is a top perspective view of the work box of FIG. 1 after the entire mold core package has been printed and the work box removed.
6A is a perspective view of a mold core package removed from the work box, in which the mold core package is made from bound particles and excess unbound particles are removed.
FIG. 7 is a top perspective view of the cope mold shown in FIG. 6A.
8 is a top perspective view of a drag mold disposed in a casting box.
9 is a top perspective cross-sectional view of a mold core package disposed to cast a melt into a mold cavity defined by the union of the cope and drag mold.
10 is a top perspective view of a powder slush mold tool produced by casting from a mold core package.
10A is a bottom perspective view of the powder slush forming tool of FIG. 10.
10B is a top perspective view of a powder slush forming tool with a grain pattern etched into the A-side of the forming tool.
11 is a top perspective view of a cope mold with external heating and cooling features configured on the molding surface.
FIG. 11A is a bottom perspective view of a powder slush forming tool cast using the cope mold of FIG. 11, with the powder slush forming tool having heating and cooling features on the B-side of the powder slush forming tool. FIG.
12 is a top perspective cross-sectional view of a sand mold package consisting of the cope and drag mold of FIGS. 7-8 with displacement cores disposed therebetween.
12A is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a powder slush forming tool having a conformal heating and cooling reservoir extending through a portion of the powder slush forming tool.
13 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a powder slush forming tool having a conformal line extending through a portion of the forming tool.
14 is a flow chart illustrating how a powder slush forming tool is used in a slush forming process to produce a polymer soft skin.
15 is a partial perspective view of a door panel with a soft skin disposed thereon.
15A is a partial perspective view of the soft skin of FIG. 15 with a grain pattern disposed thereon, taken at the position of XVA.

For purposes of explanation herein, the terms "top", "bottom", "right", "left", "rear", "front", "vertical", "horizontal" and derivatives thereof are oriented in FIG. As is related to the present invention. However, of course, the present invention may assume various alternative orientations except where expressly specified otherwise. It is also obvious that the specific apparatus and processes shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the following specification are merely exemplary embodiments illustrating the concept of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics related to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be construed as limiting unless explicitly stated otherwise in the claims.

1 to 6, an additive manufacturing technique has been described using a sandprinting process as an example. But of course other similar additive manufacturing techniques can also be used according to the invention. As shown in FIGS. 1-6, a work box 40 formed from any of a number of materials including wood, metal, and the like is disposed below the printing device 42. The work box 40 defines a print area 44 in which the mold core package and its components consist of a layer of laminated particles as further described below. The printing device 42 can print three-dimensional (3D) molds, cores and mold core packages. For the purpose of describing the formation of a mold core package by the printing process discussed below, the drag mold 110 of FIG. 8 is referred to, although reference is made to the cope mold 100 as shown in FIGS. ) May be formed using a similar process or coincident with the cope mold 100 in a single printing process.

The printing device 42 includes a hopper 46 and a deposition trough 48, which deposits a thin layer of activated fine particles 50, such as silica sand, a ceramic-sand mixture, and the like. Laminated inside. Particles 50 may be of any size including diameters from 0.002 mm to 2 mm. The printing device 42 also includes a binder deposition device or binder dispenser 52. As disclosed in detail below, the binder dispenser 52 sprays a thin binder or binder formulation layer into the single layer shape of the desired mold 100. By repeating the process of laminating the sand and the process of spraying the binding agent 16 on the fine particles 50 by the binder distributor 52, a plurality of laminated particle layer 14 is formed as shown in FIG. A three-dimensional mold core package is created. The 3D mold 100 is further over sufficient time to continuously print each thin layer of microparticle 50 50 14 (FIG. 9) approximately 0.28 mm thick to form the finished mold 100. Are manufactured. The mold 100 is ultimately used as a sacrificial mold for making a powder slush forming tool or a rotational molding tool 130 as shown in FIG. 10.

Referring specifically to FIG. 1, a computer aided design (CAD) program is developed that inputs and uploads a specific configuration of mold 100 (FIG. 7) to a computer 60 coupled to a printing device 42. The computer 60 supplies information from the CAD program containing the specific configuration of the mold core package 100 to the printing device 42 for forming the mold 100.

It is contemplated that CAD or any other form of 3D modeling software can be used to provide sufficient information to the 3D printing apparatus 42 to form the desired mold 100. Prior to activation of the 3D printing apparatus 42, a predetermined amount of fine particles 50 is introduced by the particle ejection tube 62 together with the activating coating or the activator 70 supplied by the activator ejection tube 72 to the hopper ( 46) is dropped into. While the illustrated embodiment uses fine sand as fine particles 50, as mentioned above, fine particles 50 may include any of the various materials or combinations thereof suitable for the additive manufacturing techniques disclosed herein. Can be. Fine particles 50 are mixed with activator 70 in hopper 46. The mixture of the fine particles 50 and the activator 70 may be mixed by the stirrer 74 or other known mixing device so that the fine particles 50 are fully mixed and activated. After the fine particles 50 and the activator 70 are thoroughly mixed, the fine particles 50 are moved to a deposition trough 48.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-6, after the activated microparticles 50 have been moved to the deposition trough 48, the microparticles 50 may be unbonded by the deposition trough 48 by unbonded activated microparticles or unbound sand ( A thin, flat layer of 90 diffuses across the print area 44. After spreading in a thin layer in the printing area 44 of the work box 40, the activated fine particles 50 are sprayed together with the binding agent 16 (FIG. 3). The binder formulation 16 is dispensed from a binder dispenser 52 that sprays the thin binder formulation 16 layer in a pattern 80 showing the first thin cross-sectional layer 14 (FIG. 9) of the desired mold 100. After the binding agent 16 has been sprayed, a mixture of other fine particles 50 and the activator 70 is prepared and dropped into the deposition trough 48. Deposition gutter 48 then distributes a layer 90 of other unbound activated fine particles 50 over a layer of fine particles 50 in previously spread work box 40 as shown in FIG. 5. The binder dispenser 52 passes over the printing area 44 again, spraying the thin binder formulation 16 layer in a pattern 80 representing the second thin cross-sectional layer of the desired mold 100 adjacent to the first thin cross-sectional layer. . These steps are repeated over and over until all thin cross-sectional layers of the finished mold 100 have been printed (FIG. 6). By using this additive manufacturing technique, mold core packages of virtually any shape can be formed. In addition, mold core packages produced using additive manufacturing techniques such as 3D sand printing may have internal structural features that would otherwise not be produced by other known subtraction methods.

As shown in FIG. 7, the finished upper mold, ie, cope 100, is formed using the additive manufacturing process described above, such that the contour surface 102 is formed in the depression 104, and the contour surface or The forming surface 102 comprises the contour of the desired powder slush forming tool or shell 130 (FIG. 10) produced in a subsequent casting process described below. Contour surface 102 and depression 104 will take the form of a vehicle interior structure in which it is desirable to use a soft shell as a cover.

As shown in FIG. 8, the lower mold, ie drag 110, is shown to be printed using the additive 3D printing method described above. The lower mold 110 has a contour protrusion 112 whose configuration generally opposes the contour surface 102 of the upper mold 100, and as a result, the upper mold 100 and the lower mold as shown in FIG. 9. When the 110s overlap each other in the casting box 41, voids or mold cavities 114 having the desired contours of the powder slurry molding tool to be cast are formed. The union of the upper mold (cop) 100 and the lower mold (drag) 110 forms a mold core package, which in this case is a sand mold package. If desired, the casting box 41 may be used for support, but of course the mold core package may be used in the casting process without any additional support.

As shown in FIG. 7, the upper mold, ie, cope 100, has a flat surface that encloses recess 104 having a contoured surface 102 for shaping the B-side of powder slush forming tool 130. 103) (FIG. 10A). As shown in FIG. 8, the lower mold, ie drag 110, includes a protrusion 112 having a contoured surface 113 for shaping the A-side of the powder slush forming tool 130 (FIG. 10). . The lower mold 110 further includes a flat surface 111 surrounding the protrusion 112 of the lower mold 110.

As shown in FIG. 9, the upper mold 100 and the lower mold 110 form a sand mold package for casting the molten material 120 into the melt access point 122 disposed in the upper mold 100. Are placed adjacent to each other for the purpose of The upper mold 100 and the lower mold 110 are connected at respective flat surfaces 103 and 111 positioned on the dividing line 116. The flat surfaces 103 and 111 of the upper mold 100 and the lower mold 110 may be referred to as divided surfaces. During the casting process, the molten material 120 is injected into the mold cavity 114 defined by the first mold surface 102 of the cope 100 and the second mold surface 113 of the drag 110. It may be further contemplated that the access point 122 extends through the cope 100 into the drag 110 so that the melt 120 fills the mold cavity 114 from the bottom. Once the melt 120 is injected into the sand mold package, the melt can be cooled to form a powder slush forming tool or shell 130 as shown in FIG. 10. Once the melt 120 is cooled, the molds 100 and 110 are dismantled or otherwise destroyed to release the shell 130, so the molds 100 and 110 are essentially sacrificial. The cast shell 130 includes a mold cavity 114 (FIG. 9) that is nearly near net-shape and further includes an A-side and a B-side. The depression 131 is disposed on the A-side of the shell 130 and the protrusion 132 is disposed on the B-side of the shell 130 (FIG. 10A). A flat surface 133 is disposed around the depressions 131 and the protrusions 132 disposed on the A- and B-sides of the shell 130.

Referring now to FIGS. 11 and 11A, another embodiment of the upper mold 100a is shown in a configuration similar to the upper mold depicted in FIG. 7. The mold 100a of FIG. 11 is used to provide external thermal control features in the form of heat sinks, fins or fins 135 (FIG. 11A) to the B-side of the shell 130a. It differs from mold 100 as shown in FIG. 7 in that it has a recessed configuration of thermal control features in the form of a plurality of cavities or recesses 134 disposed in the mold surface 102. Fins 135 are cast when shell 130a is cast, and fins 135 are used to heat or cool shell 130a using heating or cooling airflow in a slush forming process to form a flexible polymer sheath. It functions as a temperature control mechanism, ie a thermal control feature. The slush forming process is further described below.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 12A, another embodiment of shell 130b is cast to have a fluid cavity in the form of conformal reservoir 140 disposed between the A- and B-sides of shell 130b. Can be. To create the conformal reservoir 140, the displacement core 142 is printed using the additive manufacturing process described above, and as shown in FIG. 12 to form the intaglio configuration of the thermal control features in the mold cavity 114. As disposed together with the support into the mold cavity 114. As such, the displacement core 142 displaces the molten material 120, resulting in a shell 130b having internally disposed thermal control features in the form of conformal reservoir 140 when the cast melt 120 is cooled. Will be formed. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 12A, the conformal reservoir 140 uniformly follows the contours of the A- and B-sides of the shell 130b, respectively. However, when the shell 130b is used in a slush forming process that can heat or cool the shell 130b, the portion of the A-side or B-side of the shell 130b for the thermal fluid pumped into the reservoir 140 is It is also contemplated that the displacement core 142 be provided with a variety of geometric configurations and passages printed thereon that can alter the heating or cooling characteristics of the casting shell 130b by controlling the exposure.

During the casting process, the molten material 120 is cooled to form a shell 130b, and the printed displacement core 142 and any associated supports are structurally destroyed to wash away or otherwise form the resulting unbound or unbound sand. Can be removed with Shell 130b further includes at least one access port 141, which is a passage through which thermal fluid, ie, a heating or cooling fluid, can be pumped into and out of conformal reservoir 140. In this way the shell 130 can be quickly heated or cooled using a heating or cooling fluid pumped into the conformal reservoir 140 such that the heating and cooling of the mold 130b is slush formed as described further below. It is precisely controlled in the creation of the polymer shell using the process.

Another thermal control feature contemplated by the present invention is the integration of a conformal line or tube 150 disposed between the A and B faces of another shell embodiment 130c as shown in FIG. Similar to the manner of using heating or cooling fluid in shell embodiment 130b, thermal fluid may be pumped into conformal line 150 to heat or cool shell 130c during the slush forming process. As mentioned above, the displacement core 142 is formed using an additive manufacturing process and therefore may take a variety of configurations. Thus, to create the shell 130c of FIG. 13, the displacement core will be placed in a mold cavity having the intaglio configuration of the desired conformal line 150 of the shell 130c shown in FIG. 13. This displacement core is produced by the sandprinting process by being placed and supported in a float-like manner in a mold cavity that will produce a conformal line 150 as shown in shell 130c of FIG. It is also contemplated to take the form of a continuous serpentine configuration of the sacrificial print line so that thermal fluid can be pumped into and moved into the conformal line 150 to heat or cool the shell 130c as needed. Can be.

As shown in FIG. 10B, the shell 130 may have a grain pattern 137 disposed anywhere on the A-side of the shell 130. Grain pattern 137 may be produced by any suitable etching process such as acid etching, laser etching or mechanical etching to provide a grain pattern having a grain depth in the range of 5 μm to 1000 μm. The grain pattern 137 is inverted of the grain pattern 137 etched on the A-side of the shell 130 to provide a textured flexible polymer sheath as described below with reference to FIGS. 14-15A. It can be used in the slush molding process to create a flexible polymer shell having a.

The method of forming the powder slush forming tool or shell according to the present invention provides many advantages over current electroplated nickel and nickel vapor deposition processes. Both known processes require the use of a reference model, which is a fully numerically controlled (NC) cutting model usually wound with grained vinyl. When using the pole nickel process, it may take more than 20 weeks to produce a fully grained nickel shell tool. Nickel shell tools of known methods must have externally added cooling and heating features after their formation. In the case of nickel shells using air as the thermal control medium, hundreds of small pins must be soldered to the B-side of the tool. If the nickel shell is an oil tool, several steel oil tubes are soldered to the B-side outside the tool. In either process, a plurality of metals having various coefficients of thermal expansion must be introduced into the tool. This causes thermal stress to accumulate during the circular use of the tool and eventually break the tool after approximately 40,000 shots due to cracks and other damage caused by thermal fatigue.

The cast shell of the present invention uses an alloy having a very low coefficient of thermal expansion throughout the shell and any associated heating and cooling features. Such alloys are incorporated herein in their entirety, US Provisional Application No. 61 / 268,369, entitled "Method for Producing Molded Envelopes or Slush Molds," and "Surface Textured Surfaces". CTE slush molds and methods of making and using the same, as described in PCT International Publication No. WO2010 / 144786. In the case of using the three-dimensional CAD model of the present invention, a three-dimensional mold core package may be printed in the sand, in which a processing stock is added to the A-side of the shell and a heat sink is disposed on the B-side of the shell, or a bladder, reservoir Alternatively, a conformal oil passage in the form of a line may be produced by sandprinting a displacement core forming a passage disposed between the A- and B-sides of the shell. Thus any number of finished configurations can be printed on the mold core package by a printing process and then converted to the tool by casting the tool using a geometrically complex mold core package. The three-dimensional printing process prints a 0.28 mm thick mold layer at a time, which allows complex geometric and thermal control features to be formed in the mold, which is usually produced using standard machining techniques. It is difficult or impractical to do.

As shown in FIG. 9, the molten material or alloy 120 is a bonded sand mold 100, 110 constituting a sand core package in which the molten material is solidified and cooled to form a desired shell 130 (FIG. 10). Is melted and injected into the mold cavity 114. Once the molten material 120 has solidified, the upper and lower sand molds 100, 110 may form a shell 130 that is nearly final in shape with the desired heating and cooling features as shown in FIGS. 11A, 12A and 13. It is left behind and dismantled. A processing stock of approximately 5 mm is placed on the A-side of the shell 130, and then machining or milling to finish the A-side as needed may be considered. As mentioned above, the A-face may then be etched to have the desired textured pattern applied to the polymer sheath during the subsequent powder slush molding process. Given the accuracy and precision of 3D printing of the mold core package, the cast shell 130 has a nearly final shape of the finished part and thus can produce parts that can be finished or self-finished in a grain pattern with roughly 5 mm of machined stock. Will be. The nearly final shell 130 results in less stock material, melt 120, used in the overall casting process.

Heating using various metallic materials after casting when fully cast into alloys with little or no thermal expansion properties within the operating temperature range of shell 130 (typically 37.8 ° C. (100 ° F.) to 260 ° C. (500 ° F.)). And the cumulative thermal stress of the shell 130 of the present invention is significantly reduced because no cooling features are added. Accordingly, the shell 130 of the present invention has a considerably long service life because there is no thermal stress in the other methods, which causes thermal fatigue and eventually breaks the tool. It is contemplated to use a nickel-iron alloy with a coefficient of thermal expansion of less than 5.0 × 10 −6 in / in / ° F. in the casting of the shell 130. This nickel-iron alloy is also highly thermally conductive and can be quickly heated or cooled using the described heating and cooling features. This reduces the cycle time for the shell 130 to be used in the slush molding process and allows the operator to perform better control during the molding process.

As mentioned above, the A-face of the shell may be etched in a grain pattern, and may also have areas in which the finished surface is not etched. In this way, the A-side of the shell may have various textures imparted to the polymer sheath, such as the grain pattern 137 or gloss finish of FIG. 10B.

As shown in FIG. 14, a flowchart illustrates a slush forming process using the mold tool or shell of the present invention to create a polymer sheath. As shown in FIG. 14, a shell 130 having an A-side and a B-side is attached to a powder box 160 containing powder 162 made of polymer particles. Casting shell 130 is then heated using one or more of the heating and cooling features (not shown) described above, and using fluids or air, such as oil. In the air heating process, an air shell with external thermal control features as shown in FIG. 11A will be used. In an oil or fluid process, an oil or fluid shell with internal heating and cooling features in the form of a conformal reservoir as shown in FIGS. 12A and 13 will be used. Once the shell 130 is attached to the powder box 160 and heated, the slush mold apparatus is rotated to bring the powder 162 containing polymer particles into contact with the A-face of the heated shell 130. Heat from shell 130 causes the polymer particles of powder 162 to melt and adhere to the A-side of shell 130. The device can be rotated any number of times to produce a polymer sheath 164 of a desired thickness. Shell 130 is then cooled using associated thermal control features, and sheath 164 is removed. As mentioned above, the A-side of the shell 130 may have any number of etched grain or gloss patterns such that when removed from the shell 130, the shell 164 is disposed thereon. Will have a correlation pattern provided by the A-plane of The textured flexible polymer sheath 164 is then any such as an instrument panel, a door panel (FIG. 15), an armrest, a console cover and any other vehicle interior surface where it is desirable to use such textured flexible polymer sheath. It can be used to cover vehicle parts inside a number of vehicles.

Referring to FIG. 15, there is shown a door panel 200 with a soft skin 164a disposed thereon. It should be noted that the soft skin 164a may cover some or all of the door panel 200 as required by the manufacturer. Soft skin 164a is produced by a slush forming process similar to that shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 15A, a partial view of the soft skin 164a has a grain pattern 137a, which is in conjunction with the shell 130 shown in FIG. 10B in which the soft skin 164a has a grain pattern 137. Equally, the grain pattern was created in the slush forming process using a shell disposed thereon. Thus, the grain pattern 137 of the shell 130 embosses at least a portion of the polymer shell 164a.

By using a mold core package and a method of manufacturing a tool from the mold core package, including but not limited to the molding tool disclosed herein, the ability to uniformly cool the entire area of the molding tool is thereby improved. Fluctuations in the thickness of the soft skin are reduced and the overall quality of the soft skin is improved. In addition, the accuracy resulting from manufacturing the mold core package through the printing process improves part quality, precision and design flexibility. Conformal lines allow for improved thermal performance. Instead of a plurality of lines for heating and cooling, they are replaced with integral heating and cooling conformal lines that can be configured to meet the desired thermal loads required to improve the quality of the tool and the quality of the parts. In addition, the mold core package and the tool made from the mold core package can be configured to improve the cycle use time, thereby improving the parts manufacturing capability.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the configuration and other components of the described invention are not limited to any particular material. Other exemplary embodiments of the invention disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials and additive manufacturing techniques unless otherwise specified herein.

It should also be noted that the arrangement and arrangement of elements of the invention as shown in the exemplary embodiments are presented by way of example only. While only a few embodiments of the invention have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art having reviewed the invention have various modifications (eg, size, dimensions, without departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the inventive subject matter enumerated). It will be appreciated that variations in structure, ratios of various elements, parameter values, mounting fixtures, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc. are possible. For example, an element shown as being integrally formed may consist of a plurality of parts, an element shown as a plurality of parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interface may be reversed or otherwise changed, The length or width of the members or connections or other elements of the structure and / or system may vary, and the nature or number of control positions provided between the elements may vary. It should be noted that the elements and / or assemblies of the system may be constructed from any of a wide variety of colors, textures, or combinations thereof, and from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention. Other substitutions, changes, modifications, and omissions of construction, operating conditions and arrangement of the preferred embodiment and other exemplary embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Of course, any described process or step belonging to the described method may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps within the scope of the present invention. The example structures and methods disclosed herein are presented by way of example and should not be interpreted in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that modifications and variations of the foregoing structures and methods may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and, unless expressly stated otherwise in the claims, such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims. It is also natural that it is intended.

Claims (19)

Is a method of manufacturing a vehicle polymer shell,
(a) depositing a thin layer of particles,
(b) selectively applying a binder to the thin particle layer to define a cross section of the mold core package,
Repeating steps (a) and (b) to produce a mold core package having a mold cavity,
Applying a melt to the mold cavity to form a casting molding tool,
Coating a casting molding tool with a polymeric material during the slush forming process to form a polymeric sheath.
A method of making a polymer shell. The method of claim 1, further comprising inserting a displacement core inside the mold cavity prior to applying the melt to provide an internal conformal reservoir to the casting molding tool.
A method of making a polymer shell. The method of claim 2, further comprising heating the cast molding tool by introducing a thermal fluid into the conformal reservoir prior to coating the cast molding tool with the polymeric material.
A method of making a polymer shell. The method of claim 1, wherein repeating steps (a) and (b) produce a mold cavity comprising a plurality of recesses.
A method of making a polymer shell. The method of claim 4, wherein applying the melt to the mold cavity to form the casting tool comprises filling a plurality of recesses with the melt to form external thermal control features disposed on the surface of the casting tool. Containing additional
A method of making a polymer shell. 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising heating the casting molding tool having the external thermal control features by introducing airflow to the external thermal control features prior to coating the casting molding tool with the polymeric material.
A method of making a polymer shell. The method of claim 1, further comprising etching the grain pattern on the surface of the cast forming tool.
A method of making a polymer shell. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein coating the cast molding tool with a polymer material during the slush forming process to form a polymer sheath further comprises embossing a grain pattern on at least a portion of the polymer sheath.
A method of making a polymer shell. A method of making a mold core package for forming a powder slush forming tool,
(a) depositing a thin layer of particles,
(b) selectively applying a binder to the thin layer to define a cross section of the mold core package,
Repeating steps (a) and (b) to produce a mold core package having a mold cavity,
Applying a molten nickel-iron alloy having a coefficient of thermal expansion of less than 5.0 × 10 ⁻⁶ in / in / ° F to a mold core package to form a cast powder slush forming tool
A method of making a mold core package. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising inserting a displacement core inside the mold cavity prior to applying the melt to provide an internal conformal reservoir to the cast powder slush forming tool.
A method of making a mold core package. The method of claim 10, further comprising heating the casting molding tool by introducing a thermal fluid into the conformal reservoir prior to coating the casting powder slush forming tool with the polymeric material.
A method of making a mold core package. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein repeating steps (a) and (b) produce a mold cavity comprising a plurality of recesses.
A method of making a mold core package. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein applying the melt to the mold cavity to form the casting tool comprises filling the plurality of recesses with the melt to form external thermal control features disposed on the surface of the casting tool. Containing additional
A method of making a mold core package. 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising heating the casting molding tool having the external thermal control features by introducing airflow to the external thermal control features prior to coating the casting molding tool with the polymeric material.
A method of making a mold core package. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising etching the grain pattern on the surface of the cast forming tool.
A method of making a mold core package. A mold core package for forming a powder slush forming tool,
A cope having a first molding surface defined by a plurality of laminated particle layers,
A drag having a second molding surface defined by a plurality of laminated particle layers,
A casting cavity defined by the first and second forming surfaces having an intaglio configuration of thermally controlled features cast into a powder slush forming tool used in the slush forming process.
Mold core package. The mold of claim 16 wherein the cope and mold are printed sand mold packages formed using an additive manufacturing process.
Mold core package. 17. The intaglio configuration of the thermal control features includes a displacement core disposed within the mold cavity, the displacement core configured to displace the melt applied to the mold core during the casting process to form a powder slush forming tool. felled
Mold core package. The intaglio configuration of claim 16, wherein the intaglio configuration of the thermal control feature includes a plurality of recesses disposed in one of the first and second forming surfaces.
Mold core package.

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